1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to folding or collapsible cots and, more particularly, to a simple, lightweight cot which can be easily folded into a relatively compact unit for transportation and storage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Portable beds or cots of one type or another have been in use for many years. Such cots find widespread use in conjunction with such outdoor activities as mountain climbing, fishing, boating, hunting, camping, flying, trailering, and the like. Furthermore, such cots can be used as an extra bed for home use and as an emergency bed for a wide variety of purposes.
A typical portable bed or cot includes a pair of side rails, each side rail having a plurality of sections which are interconnected in a manner permitting folding of the side rails, a flexible body-supporting sheet connecting the side rails, and a plurality of support members located beneath the side rails and the body-supporting sheet for supporting the side rails and the body-supporting sheet in a horizontal plane above a support surface. Furthermore, since such a portable bed or cot is quite bulky when positioned for use, some provision is invariably made to permit folding of the cot into a relatively small, compact unit for transportation or storage. Thus, each side rail typically has a plurality of sections which are interconnected in a manner which permits folding of each side rail at least in half. In some cases, the side rails are folded in thirds.
Existing folding or collapsible cots are of two general configurations. The first type is generally referred to as a full-size cot in that the legs are from 12 to 16 inches long and support the body-supporting sheet at a height typical of a chair so that the cot may be used as a chair and so that it is convenient to get on and off thereof. In cots of this type, the legs normally remain attached to the side rails, although they are hingedly connected thereto, so that they may be folded into contact therewith. After the legs are folded against the cot, it is typically folded in half so that in the folded position, the length thereof is approximately equal to one-half the length of the cot, the width thereof is equal to the width of the cot, and the depth thereof is a matter of a few inches.
While this is a relatively compact size for many purposes, it is not a convenient size to be carried so that such cots are not used widely in conjunction with many activities, especially those including back packing, mountain climbing, hiking, and the like.
In order to solve the above problem, the other type of folding cot includes legs which are releasable from the side rails so that each side rail may be folded into two or three sections and the opposed side rails, now no longer held apart by the legs, can be brought together and the combination of side rails and body supporting sheet rolled into a relatively small size. On the other hand, even though the width and depth of the cot are now relatively small, one must still contend with the legs which still have the same width as the opened body-supporting sheet. Therefore, the common practice has been to form the legs so that each pair of legs is in the form of a substantially U-shaped member having a base and integral legs, the end portions of each of the legs connecting to the side rails. Then, by making the legs substantially shorter than the legs in a full-size cot, such as approximately 7 inches long, each leg member may be positioned alongside the folded side rail and body-supporting sheet so that in folded position, the cot has a length equal to one-third to one-half the length of the cot, a height of 2 to 3 inches, and a width of 7 to 9 inches. Such a small size cot is described and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,987, entitled Compact Cot, issued June 2, 1964.
While the folding cot just described has a size more suitable for use by a back packer, mountain climber, hiker, and the like, it obviously has the disadvantage that when assembled, the body-supporting sheet is supported substantially closer to the ground than normal, making the cot unsuitable for use as a chair and making it difficult to get on and off of. Therefore, what is obviously needed, but presently unavailable, is a full-size cot having the capability of folding to a size equal to or smaller than that of the small size cots.